Building Resilience From The Ground Up
Sergey Dmitriev is CEO of Unusual Concepts.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many tech companies were able to rapidly scale up their services to meet the demands of remote work while others struggled. At the same time, restaurants that could pivot to takeout and delivery models were able to stay afloat or even expand as their competitors closed.
These are just two examples of the importance of resilience, which helps businesses survive disruptions and even thrive by seizing new opportunities and adapting quickly to changing conditions. Resilient companies can respond more effectively to market changes and customer needs—as long as they keep three key guidelines in mind.
Stay close to your customers: It sounds obvious, but a surprising number of companies lose sight of this crucial connection. You need to truly understand your customers’ changing needs to be able to meet those needs effectively. That means talking to customers regularly and getting their feedback through things like focus interviews and customer journey mapping. Then turn that feedback into actionable ideas and test those ideas.
For example, a software company can implement a comprehensive system that regularly collects user feedback through in-app surveys and customer support interactions. They can analyze that data to identify common pain points and new features their customers want. Product teams can then develop targeted prototypes that are tested with select groups of customers.
Resilient organizations will always try to improve their own transaction costs. When businesses interact with customers, whether through sales, support or product delivery, they should also critically examine their own internal processes and workflows that underlie these touchpoints to identify and eliminate inefficiencies.
It doesn't matter what the touchpoint is—it could be a website, customer service on the phone or delivering a digital product. The important thing to keep in mind is that not all of your internal activities create value for customers. While they might be necessary for your own business operations, they don’t benefit your customers directly.
Take our imaginary software development company. The process of estimating how long a project will take is essential for them since it helps them operate efficiently and deliver products on schedule. But those estimates don’t add value to the final product for their customers, who are only interested in the end result. The challenge is to streamline or eliminate internal processes that don't add customer value while maintaining the ones that are crucial for effective operations.
The most challenging aspect of resiliency may be accommodating and reacting to change. A large organization with a rigid hierarchical structure is like a cargo ship. Directions have to come from the bridge, and even when the captain turns the wheel, it can take miles for the massive vessel to change course.
Remember, it’s often employees on the front lines who first see what kinds of changes need to be made. These might be bank tellers or sales representatives who interact directly with customers. The problem is that these employees often lack decision-making power, and it takes time for the information to reach the C-suite, let alone for leaders to act on it.
Changing this requires a cultural shift to distribute decision-making power throughout the organization. This means empowering the frontline employees who are closest to customers instead of relying on slow, top-down decision-making. Cultivating a culture where change can originate from any level of the company requires a solid communication strategy so that everyone understands not just what needs to change, but why. It’s a challenge, but it can be done.
The most adaptable companies are those that treat their organizations as learning organisms, with frontline employees acting as sensors for shifting customer needs and market trends. By rethinking organizational structures and distributing decision-making power, companies can help future-proof their operations and ultimately achieve long-term sustainability.
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